Court dismissed the appeal "for want of a substantial constitutional question" in Poe v. North Carolina, 445 U.S. 947 (1980). Near the end of his tenure on the Supreme Court, Justice Webb wrote the sole dissent in a case in which the Court upheld a trial court taking custody of children away from a gay father because of the father's relationship with a male. Justice Webb wrote: "There is virtually no showing that these acts by the defendant have adversely affected the two children. The test should be how the action affects the children and not whether we approve of it" (Pulliam v. Smith, 348 N.C. 616, 631 [N.C. 1998]). Webb died on September 18, 2008, on his 82nd birthday. References External links Remarks on Presentation of Justice John Webb's Official Portrait News & Observer: Former state Justice Webb dies Webb & Webb Attorneys at Law: John Webb's Law Firm 1926 births 2008 deaths Justices of the North Carolina Supreme Court North Carolina Court of Appeals judges People from Wilson, North Carolina Military personnel from North Carolina Columbia Law School alumni University of North Carolina alumni 20th-century American judges